Automatic cigar lighter



Jan. 22, 1929. 1,699,655

w. DRAKE E1' AL AUTOMATIC C IGAR LIGHTER Filed Nov. '18, 1925 lllllllllllllllll Patented Jan. 22, 1929.

umm sings PAIJNT' OFFICE;

WILIIAM' DIIAICEy AND DANIEL szANTAY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, As'sIGNoRs' To SINKO TO'OD AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY,

ILLINOIS.

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF AUTOMATIC CIGAR LIGHTR.

Application fue'dnov'emifer is, 192'5. seria'i NB. es'e.I

Thisv invention relates to' autoinatio cigar lighters of the' type extensively used in a'utniobil'es ii'lierein gr lighter tip equipped with a tine wire iila'nient adapted to be I rendered i'iiciitlelst'ent by the passage of an eleetrie current therethrough ijs l'noun'ted On one eiid of the cord Carrying the Circuit wires,a`nd the cord is, iii' turn, wouridon a springt-: 1`ctuzte^dl reel or 'drum journaled in the' Oasfing'attac'hedto the'dash Or'other Wall portion of the ai body, and wherein also the casing contaiiis Circuit-controlling contacts ii'hiliare' separated'whe'the cord is Wound up and are'bought'into Contact to Close the *dii-Cuit when the cord i drawn out of the casing' in order tb use the lighter One object of our present in'v'ention is to provide an iniproire'd Circuit-opening: and c'loSirig iiichanis'in that`A willl be siniple in construction, "ineXpenSiiie" to rnanufaetre, wholly autoniatic in itsf action ard reliable and efiiieiitf in` operation. Another object isi to providel aiiimp'roifed' nioi'i'ntiiigI of the s1irin`g drufn aiitl the ii'findi'gdrur'or re'el in; the caS'ing which will Siiiiplify, and Cheap'i tlie Construction of:v these pai-'ts and their inotnti'ng as' hitherto" known. Still other objeicts and attendantV advantages of thefinvention" will be apparent" to persons skilled ifi the ar'ta' the ss'im'e bco'ines better understood by reference tothe' ollowingde tail'e'd desription,taken`i connection with the a'e'eonipan'jitig drawings whereinwe have illustrated' an approved embodiment of the invention, and in whichv Fig. 1 i'an outer Side elevation of the easingV and its a'tta'e'hed tip holder;

Fig. 2' is'an enlarged Section on the line 2-2'o'f Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a reduced section on the line 3 of FigQ; and

Fig. 4- iS a fragmentary sectional View Siniilar to Fig', 2', showing a modification of the automatic Contact mechanism.'

Referring to the drawings, 10 designates a generally cylindrical she'etinetal casing closed on one Side by a' removable Cap 11; said casing, as shown 'in Fig. 3, being formed wit-ha tangentia'lly offset portion 10' formed with af round opening 12 in which is entered and secured one end of an externally threaded tulje SeCtion1?) equipped with nuts l4a'nd 15 by which Said tube section, forming the shan'k or hantllof the casing, may be secured inthe dash or otliil fnie'tlfiilallofthe 26 designates'vthe'. lightert od adapted'tdlbe Wound and hii'oultliiitdfrn'the drum 23 under'the' pullOf'a'cloe'ksprii' in the drumv 2Q and an mim/aidpun-.ontleend 26; the spring 27 being" ar'iehrd at its outer' end to' the periphery' off the dr'niQQ and at its inner end ahehore'd to' the' fixed bearingmember 17 by' In'eans Off' tlie'- Scew 19. One circuit Wire of `the derdm'y' be grounded tothe flangev of tlie di" i1in`23,`as shown at 28, While the other is: electrically connected by a'. binding screw'29'to'a spring Contact member 30.' This c'otatepr'ing 30 is mounted on a fibrev diSc 31 thatJ is fitted into the winding drurii23 against an internal Shoulder Q3 on the latter and is lo'eked against rotation by means of tongues- 32 cut and bent inwardly from the Ametal of the drum through notches in the periphery of the disc 31 and lipped'over thezouter' side ot the latter. Thel disc 31 is formed with a central square hole 34, and with a' radial notch 35 Communicating with the hole 34 and providing Clearance for the inner end 0i the Contact spring 30,'

The cap or cover-plate 11 is formed With a centra-l hole 36, through which'extend a threaded rod 37, the hole 36 being of greater diameter thanthe rod 37 and the la'tter'being supported by a pa'ir of insulating washers 38, 39 that are clampedf on'the eoverplate 11 between a'n abutment r'iiit 10" on the rod 37 and a Washer 41 andtightening niit'12. A Circuit Wire Ll'"fi"o`ni"theL positive' ple of the battery orrother source of current is clampedf between the nut 42 and a binding nut44.

Mounted on the inner end of the threaded rod 37 is a square nut 45 `of a size to slidably 'fit `theisquare Vhole 341in the disc 3l.

One side of this nut forms a. Contact member that directly co-operates with the' contact spring 30 to make break the circuit through the lighter.

movements thefidinm 23 that, when the druin23 -i'sl rotated by thedrawing out'zof the. lighter co"rd,;tl 1'ey 4nut 45, which is at the saine time rotated oii'thethreaded rod 3 7 by disc 31, l `will i {travelv Afixifvvardly of th'f Winding drum,iai1`lfl ose 'the circuit between tlie'nut n 'priiig 3 0, the reeend of the lattervipigi.overne slide of the nut and maiatainiiigthjcifcuit 'closed until 'neton- @hiding prtipnlof nieuwe" wading ,movement of,' the4 drum; When the cm-id.-y is Wound4 upn the drum rotative inilon the lighter eord,. `om-es to rest within the tubulalsockeP-(iiwmbr 13A-benut 'passes Off A,and outgof contactgvvith.thefspring 30, and

.thecircuit is broken at that.point. l the manufactured varticle, since the :,Jvof an inch at the opposite side of the i drum. from the trunnion if said opposite side were. Wholly unsupported. .Further reduction o this-,tilting tendency would involve such a tight f it'of the trunnion in itsbearing that the winding spring, unless made undesirabl'y heavy, would not wind up the cord` Tooppose this-tilting tendency and vreduce' it to a negligible amount, the nut 45 has a clearance of about .O05 inch in the aperture 34 of the disc 3l, so that when the cord is Wound up and unwound the disc 3l and nut together. form a support for the side of the driun which is opposite the trunnion, reducing the tilting or canting movement to a negligible amount.

In Fig. 4 we have illustrated a slight modification in the form of `the contacts,

which however, embodies the same operative principle ,as that previously described. In this formof the invention, the contact springr 30 extends further -into the drum 23 and terminates in a iat'section 4G to which is attached, as'by a metal rivet 47 an insulating Washer 48 normally held by the springr against the inner side of thewinding drum. The threaded rod r37 is made somewhat shorter than the rod 37 previously described,

and is hollowed `out to receive a plunger 49 65 and a coil compression spring=50=fin rear of said plunger. The plu'nger 49 is -formed with a reduced forwardly projecting neck or stem flfwhich passessthrongmaiholeff the same diameter.in-the.outer fclosed2end of 70 the square nut 45. The plunger .neck or stem-"lis in=line with the rivet 47, and said rivet plunger stem constitute the im- 1n'edia`te'circuit"nake and break contacts.

In the operation .ofthis formuoftheinvention, when the cord is'drawno'ut.. he liiivinding movement of the druin advances tl mut 45- toward A the spring Contact 46,-\vl1i cli permits the spring 50to simultaneouslyadvan'ce..

neclgprgst'em strikes the studA 'vvherellpp'ndtlie 4the plunger until'thend 'ofth'pliiiger 30 thrust of the .spring `and'fzlre circuitI is- 90 both directions b y thegoordf vvindin, drum. Automatic circuit Qpeninsgand .QIQSnf-r 1vvices have heretofore beemknowmand-used in cigar llighters of this.l general type, but,

so far as we are aware, such deviceshave been quite complicated in E structureand costly to manufacture; and the.' comparatively simple automatic oircuit opening and closing mechanisms herein shown and describedare -believed to be not only novel, to

the extent indicated inthe appended claim, but to represent a considerable' simplification and cheapeningof devices ofthis character.

We claim- In a cigar lighter of the character dcscribed, the combination of a casing, a hollow bearing member fixedly mounted inl one side of said casing, a lighter cord-'drum having a trunnion on one side-thereof journaledx in said bearing member, a fixedqcontac't carried by said drum, a threaded rod non-rotatably mounted in the Aopposite side of said casing, a. nut mounted on said rod and adapted by its movements lengthwise of the latter to make and break contactpwith said fixed contact inember, and a discof insulating materialvfxedly mountedvin'the other side of said drum embracing and rot-ating said nut under the turning movements of.` said drum, said disc and nut forming al support for one side of said drum;

WILLIAM DRAKE. DANIEL SZANZTAY. 

